Chip Berlet, a human rights activist, is co–author of Right-Wing Populism in America: Too Close for Comfort (Guilford, 2000) and editor of Eyes Right! Challenging the Right Wing Backlash (South End Press, 1995). For more, go to www.chipberlet.info & www.researchforprogress.us.

Monday, October 09, 2006

The event is billed as "Liberty Sunday: Defending Our First Freedom," with the slogan, "Preserving the light of the Church." Sunday, October 15, 2006 at 7pm eastern time, in Boston at the Tremont Temple Baptist Church, "in response to the legal battles over marriage taking place in Massachusetts."

One notice from FRC is titled "First Amendment Under Attack," and reads: "Family Research Council will tackle one of the most divisive debates in the culture wars during a nationwide simulcast." The program simulcast will be hosted on the Sky Angel satellite broadcast service.

These battles are destined to have an impact not only on marriage, but also on the free speech and freedom of religion rights of all citizens. Liberty Sunday will broadcast live in churches across the country via Sky Angel satellite system, and will also broadcast on Daystar Television, Bott Radio Network, American Family Radio and web-cast on http://www.libertysunday.com(Cite:)

Massachusetts governor Mitt Romey will appear by video, but he is sending his wife to the event to introduce his cyber appearance. Here is the announcement from FRC:

Mrs. Romney Joins Liberty Sunday

I am pleased to announce that Ann Romney, the First Lady of Massachusetts, will join us for Liberty Sunday, a nationwide FRC simulcast that will air from Tremont Temple Baptist Church in Boston, Massachusetts. She will introduce her husband, Gov. Mitt Romney, who will join by video to discuss the legal battles over marriage taking place in Massachusetts. Governor Romney has seen the impact that these battles have had not only on marriage but also on parental rights, the well-being of children, and the free speech rights of citizens in his state. (FRC Email, October 9, 2006)

"Send us your Stories" urges the blurb on the front page of the FRC website.

Have you been forced to attend pro-homosexual "diversity" training at work? Have your children subjected to pro-homosexual rhetoric in school? If your religious liberties have been affected in these and other ways, we want to hear from you. Send us your stories. Then, join us as we address these issues. (Cite:)

Here is the full invitation:

"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof."

So begins the Bill of Rights with the first amendment to our Constitution--one that guarantees a God-given freedom. For over 200 years the light of the church has illuminated this freedom, but now a radical agenda seeks to extinguish that flame.

The expansion of non-discrimination laws to include homosexuality inevitably constricts our right to express and act on our religious beliefs. Recently, there has been a string of incidents involving government intolerance against those who live out their faith in the public square.

To respond to this growing threat, I'm pleased to announce that on October 15, 2006, FRC will host a nationwide simulcast from Boston, Massachusetts called "Liberty Sunday: Defending Our First Freedom." I invite you to join us as we examine the cultural and legal influences that threaten to erode religious liberties and muzzle free speech.

Typical of FRC? Yes. Family Research Council Vice President for Government Affairs Tom McClusky recently posted: "Brad Pitt Apparently Endorses Bigamy, Pedophilia and Bestiality." McClusky was commenting on interview in Esquire magazine where actor Brad Pitt said his partner "Angie [Angelina Jolie] and I will consider tying the knot when everyone else in the country who wants to be married is legally able."

This sensitivity to the issue of gay marriage is ridiculed by McClusky on his FRC blog where he wrote: "So until people and animals can marry or one man can marry multiple women or a forty year old man can marry a twelve year old girl - Brangelina will stand strong." (Cite:)

Sky Angel, which will be broadcasting the live feed of Liberty Sunday, features a full color online feature about gay marriage, Liberty Sunday, and two antigay specials being aired later in the month.

Author Nancy Christopher notes of Liberty Sunday:

it's certainly no coincidence that the event is being held less than one month before mid-term elections, being that there are eight constitutional amendments related to marriage on the ballot across the country.

No kidding! Christopher interview with Perkins is also illuminating:

[According to Perkins:] "What we've seen in the last two years since Massachusetts (approved) same-sex marriage is the evidence of what we were projecting would happen, that there was a coming conflict between the homosexual agenda and Christianity that was vibrant and active in the public square," he says.

A "hate crimes bill" making it a crime to speak out against homosexuality is imminent if Christians don't continue to be engaged in this issue, according to Perkins.

"The ability to preach the Gospel is at risk because the Gospel fully preached is offensive," says Perkins. "Same-sex marriage is the vanguard of the homosexual agenda. If it becomes the law that you cannot speak anything that offends, it's just a matter of time before the Gospel itself will be unwelcome public speech.

Sky Angel is also broadcasting two specials on gay marriage after Liberty Sunday and before the midterm elections: "Veil of Deception: The Impact of Same Sex Marriage on American Youth"; and "No Tolerance for Truth."Here are the blurbs:

Veil of Deception investigates the impact of same-sex marriage on today's youth. It aims to show concerned citizens how critically important it is to stand up and oppose efforts to legalize same-sex marriage for the sake of the children. The special also reveals homosexual activism in schools and communities across America, how experimentation is encouraged to children, and how parents, community leaders and teachers are speaking out.

No Tolerance for Truth examines what our children are learning about homosexuality in schools, clubs and even church groups and shows how there's an intense propaganda campaign to normalize homosexuality and gender confusion to our children. Viewers will hear from parents, teachers and school board members who have fought the homosexual agenda in their communities, as well as from experts who have been studying the issue.

According to Romney, speaking at the Christian Right’s “Values Voter Summit” in Washington , DC, the “culture of America is under attack”

Now my state's Supreme Judicial Court, about a year ago, struck a blow against that family unit, in my view. It said that our Constitution, written long ago by John Adams, requires people of the same gender to marry.

But the Court focused on adult rights…The mistake was they should have focused on the rights of children. Because marriage is primarily about the development and nurturing of children. The development of a child in the history of civilization has been enhanced by the opportunity to learn from the gender characteristics of a mother and a father. Every child has a right to have a mother and a father….the impact on children will be felt not just in a day or two or a year or two but over generations as we think about the development and nurturing of children.

And what does Romney have to say about the ballot initiative in Massachusetts?:

those that are in control of the legislature may employ various tactical procedural moves to keep a vote from every occurring. Now how is it that the liberals would be so active at assuring that democracy can't have its way? I'm afraid that in some cases liberals love democracy only so long as the outcome is guaranteed in their favor.

About Me

As a teenager in the 1960s,
I joined the civil rights movement and helped run a church-based coffee house
in suburban New Jersey. Later I was active in the movement against the Vietnam
War. I dropped out of college to work in the underground and alternative press
and served on the board of the Underground Press Syndicate.